Since the battles of Stalingrad and Moscow went poorly for the Germans, should they of concentrated on Leningrad first? Which they did. But, they didn't move forces involved for the Moscow and Stalingrad fronts to Leningrad? If the Germans took Leningrad, what would it mean to Russians?

in reality, given the effective collapse of the Soviet state by autumn 1941, with the army effectively taking control of local administration across most of the front, I think the loss of Leningrad could well have toppled Stalin's regime (not least due to Leningrad's iconic position in Soviet political history). I don't think it would have it would have ended the Russian capacity to resist.

Taking Leningrad would have shaken the regime further. It would have freed substancial Finnish forces from positional warfare on the Karelian front facing Leningrad, perhaps allowing a renewed drive to cut the Murmansk rail line.

The Germans would have also been able to disengage their left, made PG4 and either 16th or 18th army for employment elsewhere along the front or even advance down the Moscow-Leningrad rail axis.

Having Leningrad would have also helped with logistical issues once the mines were cleaned out and the port could be used for shipment of supplies.

One huge issue the Germans would have faced with the occupation of Leningrad is what would they have done with the population of Leningrad.

Taking L'grad early allows redistribution of AGN & and any loaned AGC/AGS forces to help AGC and AGS. They need that. In later years, L'grad did have significant armaments industry and also supported Baltic Fleet operations for Soviets. Loss of L'grad would of course extend the Axis period of early success, but its not a gamechanger.

Would there have been an effect upon Papa Joe's regime? Don't think so. Papa Joe and Company absorbed terrific losses and still met out some serious hurt on the Axis up to Stalingrad and then whipped the Axis in every way. (So I think.)

Would there have been an effect upon Papa Joe's regime? Don't think so. Papa Joe and Company absorbed terrific losses and still met out some serious hurt on the Axis up to Stalingrad and then whipped the Axis in every way. (So I think.)

I'd disagree with this. Leningrad was 'Lenin's city', 'birthplace of the revolution' etc, it held a place in the glue that kept the Stalinist regime together second only to Moscow. By November 1941, the Communist Party was no longer in control - Stalin was governing via the GKO-Stavka, at a local level the army was running things - now this was in part as a lot of party cadres (too many as some were ordered back to the factories) had joined up - and the pre-war civilian governance had collapsed.

Some Soviet generals were talking openly of basing the regime (note they were still talking about keeping the Stalinist state) on the army not the party. If you dropped the loss of Leningrad into that, it would have been a profound shock to the regime's legitimacy in late 1941.

Note I'm not suggesting that it would have a material impact on the Russian capacity to wage war, nor that they lost a lot of resources keeping the city (just) alive, but that in psychological and political terms, given the state of the Soviet State in late 41, then yes, it could well have been the final thing that toppled the pre-war Soviet state.

Taking Leningrad in the game allows the Finns to garrison the northern part of the German front line, freeing up more German units for garrisoning further south. So it's critical for a German player to do that. In real history, there's no chance that Mannerheim would have allowed the Finnish army to do that, so there was no actual imperative for Hitler to take Leningrad. Also I think it would have been a much harder take in real life than in game -- most competent German players can crack Leningrad by turns 14 or 15 without major loss of life, historically there was no way that would have been possible. Sacrificing many many German troops to the capture of that city (which wouldn't have gotten Germany any closer to the oilfields, what Hitler really needed) would have been strategically unthinkable from a GHC point of view. So the actual and in-game situations are very very different.